He may have turned in his badge, but former Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown will still get to cash a check.
Brown, a 33-year veteran of the the Salt Lake City Police Department with nearly a decade as chief, stepped aside Friday at Mayor Erin Mendenhall’s behest. While it was his last day in uniform, he’ll stay on the payroll for six more months.
City documents, obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune through a public records request, indicate Brown will remain employed by the city — assuming he stays in “good standing”— through Aug. 29, though he’ll be placed on administrative leave.
The city will continue to pay him at his current pay rate until then, according to his official separation with the city. State records indicate, as of this year, Brown was to earn an annual wage of $262,988 and $157,102 in yearly benefits.
The ex-chief will then be paid an additional sum of $205,000 after Aug. 29, according to the agreement.
Of that exit sum, $120,702 will be treated as severance under the city’s latest compensation plan for nonunion employees and another $28,529 will be for post-employment health benefits. The city will make an additional $55,767 payment on top of that, the contract says.
Brown, in exchange, promises to return all city-owned property, including vehicles, badges, keys, access cards, cellphones, laptops, credit cards, parking or transit passes, and all copies of “any privileged and/or confidential documents.”
The agreement — which Brown signed Feb. 12, the day Mendenhall announced his departure — says the former chief agrees to not sue the city, including for any additional payments. Brown intends to officially retire Sept. 1.
The signed pact says his stepping aside reflected a determination by the city that “a change in police department leadership is necessary.”
Mendenhall has appointed Brian Redd, a former state trooper and head of Utah’s prison system, to take Brown’s spot. The City Council, which has the final say, is slated to consider Redd for the job at its Tuesday meeting.
